Anti-rail-spreading device.



A. WINSTEAD.

ANTIv-RAlL-SPREADING DEVICE.

`MPL10/mon FILED MAY14,1915.

1l68,449 Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

r 5 Z6 Z 5 @I 29 W, L 'A Z L *I v za @Z0 25 1 l mhh: f Z' j? if L n i flujf5 i 3 6 d Amma 'Illlllllllllqlt Icid ALONZO winsrnanor sHARrsBUnG, NORTH CAROLINA.

` ANTI-nain-srnnanrue nnvrcn.

Application lled May 14, 1915.` Serial No. 28,106.

To all whom it may concern 7,;

Be it known that I, ALONZO lVINs'rnAD, a

citizen of theiUnited States,z-residing at Sharpsburg, in the county of Nash and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new andy useful Improvements inAnti-Rail'- Spreading Devices; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchas will enable others skilled iin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to an anti-rail spreading device. j i

The object of thepresent invention is to improve the `construction of devices for preventing the spreading of rails and to provide a simple, practical, and inexpensive device adapted to be readily appliedto a track andy capable of firmly jholding the rails at the proper` gage and of effectively preventing the samefrom moving eitherinwardly or outwardly whereby accidents incident to the spreading of they rails will be eliminated. l n,

W ith these and other objects in yView the invention consists in the construction and novel combination andfarrangement of parts hereinafter "fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing anyof'the advantages of the invention,

In the drawing Figure l is a plan view partly in section of an anti-rail spreading device constructed in accordance with this invention, Fig. 2 is ay vertical sectional .viewof one end of the device on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, Fig. 3 is a similar view on the line 3-3 of Fig. l, Fig. 4 is a detail transverse sectional view illustrating another form of the invention, Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on the line 5 -5 of Fig. l.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawing.

In the accompanying drawing in which is illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention, the anti-rail spreading device comprises in its construction a gage bar or rod l equipped at its ends with upper'and lower rail engaging jaws 2 and 3 arranged to embrace a rail 4 at the upper and lower Specilcation of Letters Patent.

' pair of adjustable tie rods 13 Patented dan. t8, 191th faces of they inner bottom flange lthereof as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the `drawings.. The upper jaw is provided with an inclined lower face 6l to lit against the bottom flange of the rail and a vertical edge 7 for engaging the web 8 of the rail and `the lower jaw 3 which is substantially straight may extend entirely across the bottom ofthe rail but the lower jaw Sis preferably of the same length as the upper jaw 2 so as toterminate inthe vertical plane of the end of vthe said upper jaw. The gage bar or rod is designed to be constructed of tubular metal and the upper and lower rail engaging jaws which form a stop for ylimiting the inward movement of the rail maybe .formed integral with the gage bar or rod l as shown iny Fig.l 4 or they may ,be carried by an adjustable tubular section 9 provided with interior screw threads lO and engaging a threaded Aportion 1l ofthe rod or bar l. This construction enables the gage rod or bar l to be varied in length to enable the device `to be applied to roads of different gages, and after the end sections 9 have been properly adjusted to suit the gage of the road they are lockedV in their adjustment by nuts l2, arranged on the threaded terminal portions of the bar or rod l and engaging the inner ends of the tubular sections 9. The upper jaw 2 is extended upwardly along the web portion yof the rail tobrace the latter and prevent the same from rocking inwardly but the interlocking of the bottom flange of the rail with the jaws of the gage rod-or bar will effectively prevent anyrocking movement of the rails.

`The railsare securely heldvagainst'outward movement to prevent spreading by a provided at .their outer ends with hooked-shaped engaging portions 14 preferably flattened as shown and extending beneath the rail and upy wardly and inwardly at the outer side thereof and engaging and embracing the outer bottom flange of the rail as clearly illustrated in F ig. 3 of the drawing. The inner portions l5 of the tie rods are threaded and are engaged by a turn buckle 16 which is adapted to be rotated to move the tie rods inwardly and outwardlv. llhe threads of the inner portions l5 are right and left hand and the threads of the turnbuckle are correspondingly made so that the rotary movement of the turn buckle will simultaneously move the tie rods inwardly or. outwardly according'to the direction of the rotation of the turn buckle.

The tie rods are slidable through openings 17 in links 18 which are also provided with openings 19 through which the gage bar or rod passes. The openingslS and 19 are located at the ends of the links and the latter are mounted von the gage rod or bar between spaced collars 20 suitably fixed to the said gage 'rod or bar and adapted to prevent movement of the links longitudinally of the said bar or rod L1 and at the sameV timerperyInit thelinks to swing upwardly and downwardly to enable the tie'rods 13 to' be engaged with andl disengaged from the rails. When the engaging ends of the tie rodsare moved outwardly beyond the rails, the links will permit the tie rods to drop downwardly and they also permit the tie rods to be raised to a position for engaging the rails. When the device is in position the rails` are firmly engage'dr at their inner and outer sides and they are'effectively prevented from spreading or moving inwardly so that the proper gage of the rails is maintained.

In practice ythe anti-rail spreading device will be arranged at intervals of about eight feet more or less and as `the device can'be manufactured inthe neighborhood of about fifty cents it will be apparent that itis exceedingly inexpensive compared with the safetyl assured bythe use of a device on a road. Y

` What is claimed is z-f y Y v 1.*An anti-rail spreading device including 'a gage bar, of alength to extend across a track andfprovided with terminal means for engagingv the rails at one side thereof, pivoted arms located betweenthe rails and extending from and carried by the gage bar, and meanscarried by the said arms for engaging the rails at the other side thereof, said arms permitting the last mentioned means to swing into and out of position for engaging the said rails.

Copies c! this patent'may beobtained for 2.f 'An anti-rail spreading device including a gage'bar or rod provided with means for engaging the rails at the inner sides thereof to form stops for preventing inward movement .of the rails, links or arms extending from 'the gage bar or rod, tie rods slidably connected with the links or arms and providedV at their outer ends with means for engaging the rails at the outer sides thereof toV prevent the rails from spreading and means for adjustablyconnecting the inner portionsof the' tie rods. Y

3. An anti-rail spreading device of the class described including-a gage bar or rod provided with means` for engaging the rails f at the inner sides thereof to prevent the rails from moving inwardly, links pivotally connected with the gage bar or rod, and arranged at right angles `thereto and provided with` openings, tie rods slidable in the openings andprovided at their outer ends with means for engaging the rails at the outer side ythereof and a device adjustably'connecting the inner portions of the tie rods and adapted to move the same inwardly and Y outwardly.

11. A device of the class described includ ing a gage-bar or rod having threaded terminals, arms extending from the gage bar at the inner ends ofthe said threaded terminals, threaded sections engaging the threadedv terminals of the gage bar or rod and provided with means for engaging the rails of a trackat one side of the said rails and means carried bythe said arms for engaging the rails at the other side thereof, said arms permitting the last mentioned means to swing into andV out of position for engaging the rails. Y

Yln testimony whereof I aiiix'my signature inY presence of two witnesses.

ALONZO WINSTEAD.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

